MTA to Start Doing Weeknight Subway Line Repair Closures

The latest coolest thing the MTA is doing: closing the subway on weeknights. According to NY1, the MTA has plans to close some lines for repairs for up to five consecutive weeknights from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. This is a shift from the MTA's usual M.O., which is to shut down lines on the weekend (hi, L train). The full list of future closures:

4,5, and 6 trains will be suspended from Grand Central to Atlantic Avenue from January 9-13.

1, 2, and 3 trains will be suspended between 34th Street- Penn Station and Atlantic Avenue between February 13-17.

B, D, F and M trains won't run between 59th and West 4th Streets from February 20-24.

A, C and E trains won't run from 59th Street to Jay Street from March 12-16.

Which is worse, weekend subway closures? Or weeknights? Both are bad, but at least on weekends you don't necessarily need to use the subway. On weeknights, especially for people who work late, you actually would need it.

In other MTA news: today is new MTA chairman Joe Lhota's first day. Per the press release, Lhota said:

The MTA is the engine that drives our economy and makes our way of life possible here in New York, and we have a responsibility to operate our service as efficiently and effectively as possible. The MTA is facing a number of difficult fiscal and operating challenges, including funding our vital capital program and continuing to improve service in tough economic times. My focus in the next couple of months is understanding this organization from top-to-bottom, and listening to our employees, customers, and community leaders as we work together to shape an agenda and improve this vital service for all New Yorkers.

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Actually, I think the weeknight schedule could work out better than weekend closures--if they remain staggered like the schedule above. Not only do some people work on the weekends, but subway closures on the weekends have meant many cancelled shopping trips for me.

Uh, people work on weekends too. So full weekend closures don't help those in the restaurant / retail industries. They still need to suffer with shuttle buses to/from work. I have Saturday / Sunday off, so that doesn't affect me, but hey, I do like my weekends and would like to be able to get around the city easily. And sure, some people work late, but I think that there is more valuable traffic on weekends than there is at 2 am on Wednesday morning. But you're never going to please all of the people all the time, so either one is likely to piss someone off. I wonder what MTA employees prefer: working nights or working weekends?

You know what, most people might hate me for saying this, but I'd much rather have the line down on weeknights for a week than ALL weekend. I actually DO go places on the weekend, and because I have a weekday job, most nights I'm in by 10pm anyway. So...my vote goes to giving me back my trains on the weekends!